NEW WEBSITE

Here is my new website... Please keep in touch and visit me here...

http://www.erindrez.com/

Growth Charts for Children

I've been pleased to have so many orders for my custom-designed growth charts! Above are a few examples of some I have completed recently.

Each growth chart is a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of art for your child's room. If interested, I will work with you to design one that fits the theme of your choice and the style of your home.

They are hand painted on 4 foot wood panels and measure up to 5.5 feet tall. This is a wonderful way to document your children's growth -- and, it's better than doing it on the doorway because this is something you can take with you and keep for a lifetime. The children have SO much fun getting measured - it's a wonderful way to create fun family memories.

These make great Christmas, Birthday or Baby gifts! If your kids are a little older, don't worry....I've had clients call their pediatrician to find out how tall they were at each annual check-up and mark the chart based on that!


I love hand making things for people and it brings me joy to bless others with a piece of art that both parents and children will treasure for a lifetime.


If interested, please contact me at erindrez@yahoo.

Details:

Price: $85 each

Shipping: $25 each

Deadline for Christmas orders...

Local (no shipping necessary): December 12th

Non-local (shipping necessary): December 5th

*I can certainly put more than one child's name on a chart

**If payment is an issue, we can discuss a payment plan if necessary

Happiness Is...

(painting by Mary Cassatt)

"Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling...It is not something you do if you can squeeze the time in, it is what God gave you time for."

One of my friends put this quote on Facebook this week and it really stuck with me. I love that I am now a full-time stay-at-home mom. And I love that while my sweet little one is in preschool and when she's napping, I get to spend my time at home painting.

I feel SO much joy in my life right now because I know that this is exactly where God wants me to be. And, as I'm learning to slow down and cherish this special time, I feel happier and more content with life. I am enjoying life and motherhood more than I ever have.

Last night, when I got in bed and was working on a sewing project, I kept smiling and giggling to myself - remembering all the cute, funny, sweet things that my daughter did that day. I find myself doing this a lot now....I'm laughing more, there is a bounce in my step that hasn't been there for a while and I go to bed looking forward to the next day. This is NEW to me! Not long ago I was exhausted, working a job I hated, stressed, grumpy, impatient with my daughter and not wanting to get up each morning and start again. I am LOVING the new change! I know this is what God wants for us in life -- to have the joy of the Lord!

I am guilty many times of feeling like motherhood is a "chore"....but I really do feel now like it IS my calling (at least one of them) and I'm SO blessed by that realization and by being able to shift things in our life to make this happen.

"Remember, the direction of your life is more important than it's speed."

My husband sent me this quote yesterday and I love it. I am so used to moving so fast through my days that I end up completely missing them. I try so hard to get so many things done (impossible things) and I wind up disappointed when it doesn't happen.

One thing I've been struggling with this last month is how to follow my dreams and passions but at a pace that works for our family. I have BIG dreams of having a successful art business, teaching, helping others discover their own creativity, writing a book, using art as a form of self-discovery and therapy, getting my masters degree, owning my own art studio, etc.... My struggle is that I want to do ALL of these things NOW. When, in reality, that's just not possible.

I am learning to take things one step at a time. It's not about how fast I get there, it's about the process...as long as I'm headed in the right direction then everything is fine and I'm happy.

And, when I think about my life, I realize that WHO I AM as a person is way more important than what I do and this is the greatest gift I can give to my daughter. To show her an example of a woman who is true to herself, living life abundantly and loving the journey!

Faith

I'm not sure if anyone actually reads this blog, but what I do know is that it's freeing and very therapeutic for me to write on it, so I'm going to do more -- I've missed having a space to express myself.

Since my last post, a lot has changed! For the past 3.5 years I have been working a part-time office job. I took the job initially because we needed the extra money, then we became pregnant and really needed the extra money. But, this job was never anything I enjoyed or was interested in. Sitting at a desk for hours working on the computer goes against every creative fiber of my being. It was emotionally, mentally, creatively, spiritually and even physically draining. And all I wanted was to be home with our daughter.

Well, after my trip to Arizona it became very clear to me that it was time to quit my job and take a leap of faith into a more fruitful life. Throughout that weekend God kept shouting at me "Be Still!" Yes....I said shouting. Literally every time I would try to ponder other ideas, all I could think was "Be still, be still, be still, etc." It was like a broken record in my head!


I also felt very led to pursue my art more full-time. So, 3 weeks later, I quit my job! We took a huge leap of faith and it was really scary but the amazing thing is that it feels so right, not only to me but to my husband and family.


I read the following right before I quit my job and I've been clinging to it ever since:

Faith Is...
By: Ellen M Cuomo

Faith is risking what is for what is yet to be.
It is taking small steps knowing that they lead to bigger ones.
Faith is holding on when you want to let go.
It is letting go when you want to hold on.
Faith is saying yes when everything else says no.
It is believing all things are possible in the midst of impossibilities.
Faith is looking beyond what is and trusting what will be.
It is the presence of light in darkness, the presence of God in all.

Right now, I'm clinging to faith! I absolutely love being home, I love being with my daughter, I love walking her to preschool and picking her up, I love having more time to paint and pursue the things I am passionate about. And, I have NO doubt in my mind that I am where I am supposed to be! I am happy!!

The faith part comes in here...what is next? I have so many big dreams, which one do I pursue first? What's the first step? What does God want from my life? What do I want from my life? How can I continue to grow as a wife and as a mother? How can I be fully present with my family?

So, I heard God...I listened...now what???

I think He is still saying... "Erin, Be Still!" ......... He knows that this is my biggest challenge.

Adding Color to Your Prayers Workshop

At the beginning of August I flew to Arizona to attend a Prayer Retreat and lead a workshop. My sister-in-law, Janet, is the women's pastor at her church and she asked if I would be willing to come to their prayer retreat and teach a bit about using art as a form of prayer.
We met at Living Waters Retreat Center outside of Sedona, Arizona. It was beautiful!
One of my passions is helping people get in touch with their creative side. I truely believe that we are all creative on some level, we just have to figure out where and how to tap into that creativity. When we do, we live a much happier, more balanced life. And, after all, God is the Great Creator and since we are made in His image...we are meant to be creative!
The 4 days I spent in Arizona were challenging and wonderful at the same time. For a while now I have been playing with the idea of pursuing my art full time and doing more things like this workshop. It was amazing to spend a whole weekend in prayer and to be so convicted by God that yes, this is what I am meant to do and He will walk with me on this journey!
For my workshop, the ladies all brought their prayer journals and we provided markers and crayons for each of them. It was wonderful to share my passion for art and how it can be used as a very powerful form of prayer.
We did some fun warm-up exercises to loosen everyone up and get started making marks.

Then we did some different prayer exercises - praying for people and praying scripture.

It was so beautiful to see these women hard at work, opening themselves up to something new and watching God move.

One of our exercises was what I call a "fingerprint prayer". We were focusing on how each one of us is unique, one-of-a-kind just like our fingerprint and spending time with God hearing what He might want to say to us personally.
So much of art, for me, is about the process of doing it....NOT the end product. It's about spending time focusing on something and what we can learn about ourselves, our world and our God when we are quiet and still enough to sit, create and listen.
When we are working with our hands and using our creative brain we are actually able to access a deeper part of our selves, our soul and our emotions. You can learn a lot when your working with your hands!
We also made prayer rocks. These are some of the ones that were made. It was neat how everyone made their individual prayer rock but then to see them all together, it was like seeing the groups collective prayer. Everyone pulled out their cameras and phones to take a picture of this.
We ended the afternoon with a time of reflection for people to share what "praying in color" was like for them.
It was such a blessing to hear how powerful this exercise was. A lot of people said that it was freeing - they have never felt such freedom and safety in their prayer life. Others were amazed at the deep connections they made about people or circumstances in their life that they had never realized.
It was a wonderful experience for me and I hope to continue on this journey of helping people "Add Color to Their Life!"
My prayer is that this passion/idea will continue to grow and opportunities for me to work with people on connecting with their creative self will arise!
Here is to the future and this new adventure!!

Some New Stuff

A couple new growth charts...


Playing with watercolors...

Watercolor and India Ink...

Watercolor at a retreat center in Arizona...

A tree in Griffith Park...

Children Growth Charts

My latest adventure is making these growth charts for children. They really are fun to make and I'm working on several other orders now.

They are one-of-a-kind, unique designs to fit your child's room and will have their names put on them. The kids get so excited to see how much they've grown and the memory will last a lifetime.


If your interested, send me an e-mail: erindrez@yahoo.com


(Thank you to my 2.5 year old daughter for taking this picture of me:) Perhaps a photographer in the making?!?!? )

Painting Exploration

I've been experimenting with outdoor watercolor painting in my journal - it's fun to be outside and do rough painting/sketches just for fun. And I find I'm learning a lot about this new medium. And it's a fun way to document a memory....kind of the artists way of taking a picture without a camera.


Caroline (my 2 year old daughter) painted the background of this one and then I added a flower on top...it's messy but a fun memory of our experience together.

More Watercolors

Two watercolors I did in my class:


This one was done by one of my classmates and I really liked it:

Dry Brushing - Watercolor

This week we learned a new technique of dry brushing -- basically, you use very little water on the brush and "scrub" the paint onto the paper to create a rougher effect. Watercolor paper is very rough/bumpy and basically what happens is the dryer paint sticks to the tops of the bumps in the paper and doesn't sink into the valleys, so you still see the color underneath.

This was my first layer -- typical wet-into-wet watercolor:

For my second layer I did a lot of drybrushing on the tree itself:

I received positive feedback from my teacher and classmates - we all agreed that my style on this painting is very illustrative, it would go well in a children's book. I am probably being influenced by all the children's books I'm reading with my daughter - I never realized this before I started this new medium, but the majority of children's books are done with watercolor illustrations.